1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressing type input device and particularly relates to a pressing type input device used when operating a portable terminal such as a mobile phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a pressing type input device, a device which detects a press position based on a pressing load applied to a touch screen of a portable terminal has been proposed in the related art (see PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2008-527620). This type of pressing type input device has a configuration in which load sensors are provided at four corners on a rear surface of the touch screen, for example. The pressing type input device receives the load applied to the touch screen by each of the load sensors and specifies the press position based on a change of pressure distribution detected by each of the load sensors.
However, in the pressing type input device according to the related art, the pressing load is directly applied to the load sensors on the touch screen. Therefore, there is a possibility that the load sensor may be damaged if large load is applied thereto. Particularly, the load sensor using piezoelectric ceramics gets easily damaged.